Greek-Chinese Co-production of Play “Agamemnon” to Debut in Beijing

The National Center for the Performing Arts and the Great Hall of the People, Beijing, China. Source: Wikipedia

A new production of the play “Agamemnon,” co-produced by the national theaters of China and Greece, will premiere at the National Theater of China in Beijing on Feb. 20. The announcement of the co-production was made by China’s National Theater on Thursday.

The drama, written by the ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus, explores the legend of Agamemnon, the king of Argos. According to the ancient story, he led the Greek army in the Trojan War but was later killed by his wife for sacrificing his own daughter for the war.

According to Xinhua News Agency, Luo Tong, the translator of the play’s script, said the bilingual Chinese-Greek drama will attempt to make the poetic lines of the original work more accessible to the audience.

Negotiations regarding cooperation and exchanges between the national theaters of China and Greece began two years ago. A bilingual co-production by the two partners, a drama based on a traditional Chinese tragedy, “The Orphan of Zhao,” was staged in Athens last year.

Stathis Livathinos, the artistic director of the National Theater of Greece and the director of the Beijing production of Agamemnon, hailed the upcoming play as an extraordinary experiment between the two theaters.